Can It Improve How You Poop? Read This Squatty Potty Review To See The Truth!

How I found the squatty potty

I’ve had issues with constipation ever since I was a small child. When I was 10 it had gotten so bad that my parents took me to the doctor and it turns out I had a hernia. After I had surgery to remove it my constipation improved a little bit but still doing number 2 was a huge burden on me.

I dreading having to go to the bathroom.

There were many things I tried from jumping up and down; I’m not kidding here. To shooting water up my butt with a squirt bottle like this one. The squirt bottle actually worked somewhat but that can get messy. I won’t go into detail for the sake of those who just ate.

Then I found the squatty potty.

I watched an episode of Shark Tank and saw this little ‘gadget’ I guess. They explained how we westerners are pooping wrong and that’s why its so hard for some of us to relieve ourselves. After the segment I went to their website and tried it out.

Man did it work!

Going to the bathroom lasts a couple of minutes instead of 15 to up to half an hour it used to take me!

About the squatty potty

The squatty potty was invented by the Edwards family in St George Utah. They claim they were having serious pooping problems and after getting frustrated with using phone books and other methods to go poo properly they finally designed to squatty potty.

It burst into the national scene on the entrepreneurial reality show Shark Tank with Lori Greiner offering three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for 10% of the company. The rest is history. If you’re here maybe its because you may be having similar pooping problems or are just curious.

Either way you want to know if Squatty Potty is legit. Let’s explore its claims one by one shall we?

Claim 1: You’re pooping wrong

My rating: Solid True!

Your body relies on a bend in the colon, (where your poop lives) and the anus, (where your poop says hi) to keep everything stored until showtime. Your Puborectalis Muscle helps keep your poop in place by kinking your colon, much like a bend in a garden hose stops the flow of water, when you’re sitting or standing. This muscle is helpful for when you’re sitting and don’t want to poop, but unhelpful for when you’re sitting and do want to poop. Your colon’s sweet spot comes with the squat. This tells your Puborectalis Muscle to fully relax. Squatting straightens the kink and allows for a complete elimination.

Based on our research it is confirmed that the puborectaus muscle is in a more contracted state while in a normal sitting position and does in indeed relax more while in a squatting position. There are many cultures that practice squatting while defecating. The Chinese being one.

This revelation isn’t new; in fact, a study in 2003 by Israeli doctor Dov Sikirov concluded that squatting to poop was the ‘most satisfactory.’ The study compared defecating in three different positions: Sitting on a toilet 42cm high, 31 cm high and squatting. The test subjects reported that pooping while squatting took an average of 50 seconds whereas pooping while sitting took an arduous 130 seconds.

Claim 2: Squatty Potty helps hemorrhoids

My rating: Somewhat true

Squatty Potty’s website claims that their device can can help hemorrhoids. They claim that their device leads to less straining which can cause less hemorrhoids to appear in the first place and help existing hemorrhoids to heal.

My research has found many experts saying there’s not enough conclusive evidence that this particular contraption helps with hemorrhoid (just remember in the scientific community one study isn’t enough to prove anything conclusively).

However the experts also knowledge that having better pooping posture most likely does reduce the instances of hemorrhoids as straining to defecate is the primary cause of hemorrhoids. Our friend IFLScience appears to confirm this:

1.2 billion people around the world who squat have almost no incidence of diverticulosis and fewer problems with piles. We in the west, on the other hand, squeeze our gut tissue until it comes out of our bottoms,”” says Enders. Diverticulosis occurs when excessive strain and pressure push out weak areas of the muscle wall and form little pouches in the colon. Piles are swollen blood vessels around the anus, also caused by straining.

My Rating: Mostly true

The Squatty Potty website sites a Japanese study when making theis claim that a scientific study that squatty potty gives a satisfactory sensation of bowl emptying sooner. The study is in pdf format and in small print which makes it less likely that people will take the time to read it. Well we did and here’s what the study actually says:

The subjective assessment of the difficulty of defecation revealed the squatting posture [emphasis mine] as easiest for sensation of satisfactore bowel emptying compared with any sitting defecation posture

As you can see the study tested a natural squatting posture not use of the squatty potty itself. It would’ve been more intellectually honest to say it was the natural squatting position itself and not use of the squatty potty that increased the pooping satisfaction.

This is because the study didn’t actually test the use of their products and there may be differences between a natural squat and the artificial squat position created by the Squatty Potty.

Is Squatty Potty legit?

After extensive research and reading numerous customer reviews we can safely conclude that yes squatty potty is perfectly legitimate and is likely to assist in your pooping problems. While it may not work for every single person it’s definitely a good option for anyone that wants to defecate in a more natural way.

Customer feedback

Some users didn’t like that they had to take their pants all the way off in order to use the squatty potty. In addition some complained that the contraption got in the way and forced a ‘wide stance’ while urinating.

It’s worth noting that they’ve solved this problem with their Manhattan Black model. Once you go black you’ll never go back. To pooping while sitting that is. That being said the overall customer rating is overwhelming positive.

It currently has 4.5/5 stars on amazon. There’s pretty much a consensus that it helps people poop better, solves their constipation problems, and helps their hemorrhoids.

If you go to the squatty potty website you’ll find a plethora of poop stool options. It’s also worth noting that the company offers a 60-day no questions asked money back guarantee along with free shipping.